George benton shearer



(No Model.)

G. B. SHBARER & E. s. ANDERSON.

HARP.

No. 550,539. Patented Nov. 26, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BENTON SI-IEARER, OF ON EONTA, AND ELIVIN SOLOMON ANDERSON, OF SIDNEY, NEVJ YORK; SAID ANDERSON ASSIGNOR TO SAID SHEARER.

HARP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,539, dated November 26, 1895.

Application filed June 15, 1895.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE BENTON SHEARER, residing at Oneonta, in the county of Otsego, and ELwIN SOLOMON ANDERSON,

residing at Sidney, in the county of Delaware,. State of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harps; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de- IO scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form I 5 a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to that class of stringed instruments operating on the principle of the harp, and has for its objects to provide improved means for sustaining the damper or muting bars, and also to provide an improved arrangement of keys for actuating said bars, and also a simple arrangement of the signatures designating the chords produced by the different keys, as well as a simple arrangement of characters or markings indicating the particular strings influenced by the actuation of each particular key.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear,

the invention consists in the construction and also in the arrangement of parts hereinafter particularly described, and then sought to be specifically defined by the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part hereof, and in which-- Figure 1 is a plan view of the harp; Fig. 2, an enlarged vertical section through the sounding-board and muting mechanism; Fig. 3, a detail perspective of one of the damper- 0 bars; Fig. 4:, a detail perspective of the damper-bar-retracting spring.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates the body of the instrument, in the soundingboard 2 of which is formed the usual sound hole or opening The bridges over which pass the strings 4: are designated by the numerals 5 and 6, the strings being secured at one end by the hitch-pins 7 and at the other end by the tuning-pins S. From the sounding-board rise two uprights 9, secured by gluing or otherwise to the sounding -board.

Serial No. 552,934. (No model.)

These uprights sustain the bridge which contains the muting-bars, the bridge preferably being formed of a board 10, extending from one upright to the other, across the strings, and secured to these uprights'by screws or otherwise.

The muting-bars are designated by the numeral 11, and each is provided with a series of dampers 13, formed of felt or other suit- 6 able material, the dampers 011 each bar being so arranged or spaced that they will come in contact with certain strings, so as to form a certain chord when the damper-bar is pressed down by bringing its dampers in contact with the strings necessary to be muted in order to produce the desired chord by vibration of the springs which remain unmuted or free to vibrate. It will of course be understood that any desired number of these damperbars may be employed, the dampers on each bar being arranged differently from those on the other bars, so as to produce as many chords as there are damper-bars and corresponding strings and dampers.

In our invention each damper-bar is sustained by a spring, designated by the numeral 14:, which spring is formed of wire bent into shape to form an elongated loop, the bend or fold 15 in the wire holding the two parts of the loop separated, so that when they are pressed toward each other and the pressure is released the spring or resiliency of the fold 15 will throw the two parts from each other and carry with one part the damper-bar se- 8 5 cured thereto. This loop-spring is set into a recess or slot 16, formed in each end of the damper or muting bar 11, and is secured to said bar by an inwardly-turned hook 17,which is driven into the end of the bar, the other end of the spring-loop, which lies outside the end of the slot, being provided with a downwardly-extended hook 1S,which is driven into the top of the upright 9, so as to secure said loop-spring, and thus cause it to sustain the 5 damper or muting bar 11. There will be one of these loop-springs applied to each end of the damper or muting bar and each will be secured in the same manner as the other. lVhen the spring is formed and applied as :00 described, it will in its normal position hold the damper or muting bar with its dampers up and out of contact with the strings, and when the bar is depressed by pressing upon the key or button 19 the loop-spring is compressed and the dampers thrown into contact with certain strings, so as to mute the same. As soon as pressure is taken 01f the button or key 19 the loopspring will expand and lift up the damper or muting bar, so as to release or unmute the strings. By forming the loopspring as described the greater part of it is inclosed within the damper or muting bar and protected from injury and is made to serve as a guide for the bar, so as to direct its move ment in a vertical line. The construction also leaves so small a part of the spring eX- posed outside of the muting-bar and of the upright 9 that there is little, if any, liability of the wire of which this spring is made bein g bent or thrown out of line. Furthermore, by this construction of spring we dispense with the necessity of providing a special support for the spring or of specially constructing the uprights 9 in order to receive the spring, as the downwardly-turned hook 18 is made to enter directly into the top of the upright 9 and is covered by thatportion of the bridge board 10 which lies on top of the uprights 9. l urthermore, by applying the spring in the manner describd the top of the damper or muting bars 11 may be brought quite close to the under side of the bridge board 10, thus economizing space and enabling a thin cushion 20, of felt or other material, to be placed, if desired, between the under side of the bridge-board and the top of the damper or muting bars, so as to cushion the bars as they are thrown up by the loop-spring. The shanks of the keys or buttons 19 extend through the bridge-board 10, and in order that the damping or muting bars may be as thin as possible consistent with strength, so that a greater number of them may be placed in a limited space and so that the heads of the buttons or keys may be of a most convenient size and not interfere with the head of the button or key of the adjoining damping or muting bar, we arrange the keys or buttons in zigzag form, so that the keys or buttons of every other muting-bar will be in line or by the side of the other, thus allowing the keys to be arranged in compact form and without one interfering with the other.

In order that the chord to be produced by pressing any particular key may be known, we place upon the bridge-board 10, opposite to each key, the signature indicating the chord to be produced by pressing that particular key. For instance, opposite the D-maj or key we place a signature D Ma. or its equivalent 2, opposite the G-minor key we place the sig- 1:! nature G Mi. or its equivalent 5, opposite the we place the signature 0 7th or its equivalent 1, opposite the G seventh we place the signature G 7th or its equivalent 5, opposite the A- minor key we place the signature A Mi. or its equivalent 6, opposite the D-seventh key we place the signature D 7th or its equivalent 2, opposite BIQ-maj or key we place the signature 13p Ma. or its equivalent 6, opposite the F- E! major key we place the signature F Ma. or its equivalent 4, and opposite the C-major key we place the signature of 0 Ma. or its equiva lent 1.

In columns running from each of the keys we place certain numerals or figures corresponding with numerals or figures on a scale placed across the sounding-board directly under the strings, the numerals of said scale beneath the strings indicating the tones of the different strings. To produce a desired chord certain of the strings are muted, the remaining strings constituting the different tones producing the chord. The particular strings which produce the tones giving the desired chord are known by selecting the strings having beneath them the numerals which correspond with the numerals in the column opposite the particular key which is depressed to produce the chord desired, that chord being designated or indicated by the signature opposite the particular key of that chord. For instance, if a G-major chord is to be produced the key having opposite it the signature of G Ma. is depressed, and when depressed all the strings are muted except those below which appear the numerals 5, 7, and 2 through the different octaves of the scale, these particular strings being known to be the ones not muted, because in the G- major column appear the numerals 5, 7, and 2. lVherever a fiat or sharp occurs in the scale, it is designated by a line drawn through the numeral, as indicated.

The several octaves are indicated 011 the scale beneath the same by the employment of numerals from 1 to 7, the different octaves bein g distinguished by the difference in the formation of the figures of the several octaves, so that one octave will be readily distinguished from the other in that way.

The instrument formed as described is comparatively inexpensive in construction and admits of a wide range in the number of strings and octaves that may be employed and readily indicates, to the eye the particular strings in action for the production of any particular chord and enables the particular strings which produce the chord to be quickly selected from the entire number of strings in the instrument,

Having described with particularity the preferred details of construction and arrangements of the several parts entering into the instrument, it is obvious that changes may be made in some of the parts without departing from the essential features of the invention.

Having described our invention and set forth its merits, what we claim is- 1. In a stringed instrument of the type described, the combination with the strings, of the muting bars, and loop springs applied at opposite ends of the bars for supporting said bars, the loop portions of the springs extending lengthwise of the bars and having one end secured to the bars and the other end to a support, the lower longitudinal member of the loop-spring being above the bottom face of dampers carried by the muting bars, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a stringed instrument of the type described, the combination with the strings, of the muting bars formed with slots in each end, and loop springs having the loop portion fitting in said slots and one end secured to the bars and the other end to a suitable support, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In a stringed instrument of the type described, the combination With the strings, of the muting bars, and loop springs applied at opposite ends of the bars for supporting said bars, said springs having an inwardly turned hook at one end to enter the bar and a hook at the other end to enter an upright support on the instrument, the lower longitudinal member of the loop-springs being above the bottom face of dampers carried by the muting bars, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE BENTON SHEARER. ELWIN SOLOMON ANDERSON.

\Vitnesses WILLIAM FRANoIs WANZER, CHARLES HENRY SEELEY. 

